Senate Bill No. 614
Senate Bill No. 614
PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-208
AN ACT CONCERNING ELIGIBILITY FOR THE PRETRIAL
ACCELERATED REHABILITATION PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 54-56e of the general
statutes, as amended by section 10 of public act
97-248, is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) There shall be a pretrial program for
accelerated rehabilitation of persons accused of a
crime or crimes or a motor vehicle violation or
violations for which a sentence to a term of
imprisonment may be imposed, which crimes or
violations are not of a serious nature.
(b) The court may, in its discretion, invoke
such program on motion of the defendant or on
motion of a state's attorney or prosecuting
attorney with respect to an accused (1) who, the
court believes, will probably not offend in the
future, (2) who has no previous record of
conviction of a crime or of a violation of section
14-196, subsection (c) of section 14-215, section
14-222a, subsection (a) of section 14-224 or
section 14-227a, (3) who has not previously been
adjudged a youthful offender under the provisions
of sections 54-76b to 54-76n, inclusive, and (4)
who states under oath, in open court or before any
person designated by the clerk and duly authorized
to administer oaths, under the penalties of
perjury that he has never had such program invoked
in his behalf, provided the defendant shall agree
thereto and provided notice has been given by the
accused, on a form approved by rule of court, to
the victim or victims of such crime or motor
vehicle violation, if any, by registered or
certified mail and such victim or victims have an
opportunity to be heard thereon. Any defendant who
makes application for participation in such
program shall pay to the court an application fee
of thirty-five dollars.
(c) This section shall not be applicable:
[to] (1) TO any person charged with a class A or
class B felony or a violation of section 14-227a,
subdivision (2) of section 53-21, section 53a-56b,
53a-60d, 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-70b, 53a-71, 53a-72a
or 53a-72b, [or] (2) TO ANY PERSON CHARGED WITH A
CRIME OR MOTOR VEHICLE VIOLATION WHO, AS A RESULT
OF THE COMMISSION OF SUCH CRIME OR MOTOR VEHICLE
VIOLATION, CAUSES THE DEATH OF ANOTHER PERSON, (3)
to any person accused of a family violence crime
as defined in section 46b-38a who [(1)] (A) is
eligible for the pretrial family violence
education program established under section
46b-38c, or [(2)] (B) has previously had the
pretrial family violence education program invoked
in his behalf, [. Unless] OR (4) UNLESS good cause
is shown, [this section shall not be applicable]
to any person charged with a class C felony.
(d) Any defendant who enters such program
shall pay to the court a participation fee of one
hundred dollars. Any defendant who enters such
program shall agree to the tolling of any statute
of limitations with respect to such crime and to a
waiver of his right to a speedy trial. Any such
defendant shall appear in court and shall, under
such conditions as the court shall order, be
released to the custody of the Office of Adult
Probation, except that, if a criminal docket for
drug-dependent persons has been established
pursuant to section 51-181b, as amended by [this
act] PUBLIC ACT 97-248, in the judicial district,
such defendant may be transferred, under such
conditions as the court shall order, to the court
handling such docket for supervision by such
court. If the defendant refuses to accept, or,
having accepted, violates such conditions, his
case shall be brought to trial. The period of such
probation or supervision, or both, shall not
exceed two years. If the defendant has reached the
age of sixteen years but has not reached the age
of eighteen years, the court may order that as a
condition of such probation the defendant be
referred for services to a youth service bureau
established pursuant to section 17a-39, provided
the court finds, through an assessment by a youth
service bureau or its designee, that the defendant
is in need of and likely to benefit from such
services.
(e) If a defendant released to the custody of
the Office of Adult Probation satisfactorily
completes his period of probation, he may apply
for dismissal of the charges against him and the
court, on finding such satisfactory completion,
shall dismiss such charges. If the defendant does
not apply for dismissal of the charges against him
after satisfactorily completing his period of
probation, the court, upon receipt of a report
submitted by the Office of Adult Probation that
the defendant satisfactorily completed his period
of probation, may on its own motion make a finding
of such satisfactory completion and dismiss such
charges. If a defendant transferred to the court
handling the criminal docket for drug-dependent
persons satisfactorily completes his period of
supervision, the court shall release the defendant
to the custody of the Office of Adult Probation
under such conditions as the court shall order or
shall dismiss such charges. Upon dismissal, all
records of such charges shall be erased pursuant
to section 54-142a. An order of the court denying
a motion to dismiss the charges against a
defendant who has completed his period of
probation or supervision or terminating the
participation of a defendant in such program shall
be a final judgment for purposes of appeal.
Sec. 2. This act shall take effect July 1,
1998.
Approved June 8, 1998